Struggling Queens Mall Gets New Owner

Macerich Co., one of the nation’s largest retail landlords, has added another mall to its belt in Queens.

The owner of the Queens Center Mall and manager of Cross Country Shopping Center in Yonkers scooped up the struggling The Shops at Atlas Park, located in the working-class Glendale section of Queens.

Macerich purchased the mall for roughly $54 million last week via a foreclosure auction and put down a 10% deposit. The former owner, Damon Hemmerdinger, relinquished the relatively upscale mall to lenders two years ago as the recession and poor demographic fit hurt business.

Art Coppola, Macerich’s chairman and chief executive, anticipates that Atlas Park will need “significant investment” to bring it to “a more appropriate level for the marketplace.” He anticipates that will lead to changes in the types of merchandise and prices offered at the mall, but said the details will depend on Macerich’s discussions with tenants and shoppers.

“We think we can really make good things happen there. We don’t have a plan that we’re prepared to announce because we really need to embrace the community and tenants and sift through everything with them to determine what the next best step is,” Coppola said in an interview.

Faith Hope Consolo, a New York retail broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman, said Atlas Park’s current upscale tilt “is too high end for the area. They tried to go luxury (and) that is not the customer” base. Macerich will have to recruit tenants that offer affordable fashion and accessories to boost foot traffic to the mall, she said.TheFrom the WSJ.com’s blog, Metropolis:

Macerich Co., one of the nation’s largest retail landlords, has added another mall to its belt in Queens. The owner of the Queens Center Mall and manager of Cross Country Shopping Center in Yonkers scooped up the struggling The Shops at Atlas Park, located in the working-class Glendale section of Queens.

Macerich purchased the mall for roughly $54 million last week via a foreclosure auction and put down a 10% deposit. The former owner, Damon Hemmerdinger, relinquished the relatively upscale mall to lenders two years ago as the recession and poor demographic fit hurt business.

Art Coppola, Macerich’s chairman and chief executive, anticipates that Atlas Park will need “significant investment” to bring it to “a more appropriate level for the marketplace.” He anticipates that will lead to changes in the types of merchandise and prices offered at the mall, but said the details will depend on Macerich’s discussions with tenants and shoppers.

“We think we can really make good things happen there. We don’t have a plan that we’re prepared to announce because we really need to embrace the community and tenants and sift through everything with them to determine what the next best step is,” Coppola said in an interview.

Faith Hope Consolo, a New York retail broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman, said Atlas Park’s current upscale tilt “is too high end for the area. They tried to go luxury (and) that is not the customer” base. Macerich will have to recruit tenants that offer affordable fashion and accessories to boost foot traffic to the mall, she said.